SpaceX on Friday successfully launched a Dragon capsule loaded with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS), the third official cargo run to the ISS for the private space firm and the first test of reusable landing legs on its Falcon 9 rocket.

The unmanned CR-3 supply mission for NASA was given the green light after several previous attempts at a launch were cancelled and rescheduled due to technical issues. Despite questionable weather, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule lifted off at 3:25 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA confirmed.

About an hour into its flight, the Dragon capsule separated from the first-stage Falcon 9 and within five minutes, the spacecraft loaded with about 5,000 pounds of supplies for the ISS deployed its solar arrays, which will help power the voyage to the space station.

The Dragon is expected to arrive at the ISS at 7:14 a.m. on Sunday, when Expedition 38/39 Commander Koichi Wakata and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio will capture the spacecraft using the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm, NASA said.

SpaceX tweeted a simple message after liftoff: "Liftoff of Falcon 9 and DragonDragon now on its way to the ISS." But as of Friday afternoon, the company had not given any word as to whether the experimental landing legs on the Falcon 9 had deployed as planned or if the rocket had made a "soft landing" in the ocean with assistance from ground control.

After separating from the Dragon capsule, the first-stage rocket was designed to sprout landing legs and allow for a guided descent to splashdown. Though SpaceX isn't expected to try landing its official mission rockets on the ground any time soon, testing the Falcon 9 landing legs during the latest ISS supply run marks an important step in the company's eventual plan to use reusable, Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicles for future missions.

SpaceX has been testing a reusable rocket design, dubbed Grasshopper, for a couple of years, sending the experimental rocket to higher altitudes over time before gently guiding it back down to its launch pad and even performing sideways maneuvers in the skies above the company's South Texas testing site.

The plan to test landing legs and guidance system during the current mission was certainly ambitious, but SpaceX said recently that it actually had a fairly low expectation of success.

"If we can pull this off we'll be super-thrilled," SpaceX vice president of mission assurance Hans Koenigsmann was quoted as saying last weekend by Space.com. Koenigsmann said the experimental part of the current mission had just a 30 to 40 percent chance of success.

The Dragon capsule is carrying more than 5,000 pounds of provisions, spare parts, and science experiments for the ISS, with some of the cargo being extremely sensitive. After an "oily residue" was discovered in the capsule in March, NASA cancelled a first attempt at a launch out of concern that the substance could vaporize in space and damage delicate Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) equipment, one of about 150 science experiments the Dragon is carrying up to the orbiting space station.

OPALS is an experimental high-speed communications system utilizing sensitive optics and a prototype laser which could be damaged by the stray substance if exposed to it.

The Dragon is also carrying "a set of high-tech legs" for Robonaut 2, the humanoid robot aboard the ISS, NASA said. The legs will give Robonaut 2, currently just a torso fixed in place, "the mobility it needs to help with regular and repetitive tasks inside the space station," the space agency said.

The CRS-3 mission is the third official supply run to the ISS for SpaceX, which completed its first run to the space station in October 2012. The private firm is under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA to fly a dozen such missions over the next several years and has also won major contracts with the space agency for science missions and the development of next-generation manned spaceflight vehicles.

About the Author

Damon Poeter got his start in journalism working for the English-language daily newspaper The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand. He covered everything from local news to sports and entertainment before settling on technology in the mid-2000s. Prior to joining PCMag, Damon worked at CRN and the Gilroy Dispatch. He has also written for the San Francisco Ch... See Full Bio

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.